Floss holder



Patented Apr. 5, 1927.

UNI-reo STATES' PAT ENT-1 oFF-ICE. l'

FLoss HOLDER.

Application mea May 2,

This invention relates to a dental floss holder and 'our inventionaimsto provide a holder of the bow type by which a piece of floss orother material may be held in a taut condition and easily manipulatedrelative to the teeth. Ordinarily dental floss is rather diflicult tohold because of its slippery nature and when the floss is used inconnection with a holder there must be a positive and reliable anchoragefor portions of the floss in order that it may be drawn taut across thebow of the holder. If the floss is not firmly held in a taut conditionthe user becomes discouraged and eventually discards the holder, whereasif the floss is firmly held the holder can be easily used to anadvantage for cleaning teeth.

Our device will be hereinafter specifically described and then claimed,and reference will now be had to the drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a sideelevation of the floss holder, partly broken away and partly in section;

Fig. 2 is a view of the outer end of the floss holder; l

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the line IIL-III of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged side elevation of the outer head of the flossholder;

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the same partly broken away and partly insection;

Fig. 6 is a similar view of the inner head of the floss holder;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the saine, and

Fig. 8 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line VIII-VIII ofFig. 5.

The reference numeral 1 denotes a hollow cylindrical barrel or containerwhich serves as a handle and detachably mounted in the outer end of thecontainer is a screw portion 2 of a cap 3. Between the cap 3 and the endof the container 1 is a cutting device 4 for severing a piece of floss.

In the hollow handle or container 1 is placed a. spool of floss 5 andthe cap 3 has an opening 6 so that one end of the floss may extendthrough the cap and be used in connection with the floss holder orsevered at the cutting device 4 for use independently of the holder.

Mounted in the cap 3 is the inner eXteriorly screw-threaded end 7 of abow 8 and the inner end'of the bow has longitudinally disposed facets 9adapted to prevent rotation of a sleeve 10 slidably mounted on the 1925.Serial No. 27,371.

bow and adapted to be shiftedthereon is a knurled `nut 11 inscrewthreaded engage' and on the outer end of said arm is an inner head13 adapted to cooperate withr an outer head 14 on the bow for holdingthe withdrawn end of the piece of floss.

Considering the construction of the inner head 13, it has a deepvertical longitudinal slot 15 in its upper end and the lower end of saidhead is provided with side wedge shaped slots 16 at the arm 12, said armbeing tapered so that the upper end thereof may form the inner walls ofthe slots 16. Entrance to these slots is had through front and rearinverted V-shaped openings 17 in the lower end of the head 13 and theside slots 16 are therefore somewhat curved about the arm 12.

The protruding end of the piece of floss is designated 18 and it iscarried forwardly .from the cap3 and through the slot 15 to the forwardside of the head 13. It is then carried downwardly and wedged into oneof the side slots 16, as at 21, and brought forwardly through the slot15, as at 19. Again, the piece of floss 18 is carried downwardly andwedged into the other side slot 16, as at 22, to be brought upwardly andagain through the slot 15, as at 20.

The piece of floss 18 is then carried forwardly to the outer head 14,which is somewhat similar to the inner head 13. The outer head 14 hasthe vertical slot 15, the side slots 16 and the front and rear openings17. In addition to these the front side of the head 14 has angularlydisposed slots 23, and after the end of the floss is wound intoengagement with the head 14, in a manner similar to the winding of head13, the end of the piece of floss is carried into either of theangularly disposed slots 23.

After the floss has been attached to the heads 13 and 14 the nut 11 isadjusted to shiftthe sleeve 10 towards the cap 3, thus moving the innerhead 13 away from the outer head 14 to draw the outer end of the flosstaut between the heads.

It is by virtue of the under cut deep wedge-shaped slots 16 of the innerand outer heads that the floss is positively anchored and by repeatedlycarrying the floss through the vertical slot 15 of each head portions ofthe oss are placed in frictional engagement' and there can be noslippage of the floss in the heads when being drawn taut 01' when beingused between the teeth.

It is thought that the utility of our device will be apparent withoutfurther description, and we reserve the right to make such changes asare permissible by the appended claim.

What we claim isz- In a floss holder having` a bow provided with anouter head, and a sleeve adjustable on said bow and supporting an innerhead,

said inner and outer heads having vertical longitudinal slots, sidebottom slots, and front and rear openings, the slots and openingsadapted to receive a piece of floss to be drawn taut by adjustment ofsaid sleeve on said bow, said outer head having angularly disposed slotseither of which is adapted to receive the outer end of the floss.

In testimony. whereof We aliix our signatures.

CLARENCE B. BOWLING.

HUBERT BULMAN.

